In the court of the priests, near the altar of burnt-offerings, which was itself covered with bronze, the famous _brazen sea_ was placed, a great reservoir from which the priests drew water to purify themselves before the sacrifice. This bronze basin, which resembled the calyx of a tulip, was five cubits high (8 ft. 7 in.), and ten cubits (17 ft. 2 in.) in diameter; its exterior was decorated with two rows of colocynths in relief: the wall was 3⅓ ft. thick, as in the bronze columns; it contained at least 8,800 gallons. Instead of feet, the brazen sea was upheld by twelve bronze figures of oxen, in groups of three, which, in accordance with the proportion of the basin, must have been larger than life. [Illustration: Fig. 181.--The brazen sea. (Restoration.)] This gigantic basin was fixed and immovable; for the purpose of drawing water, wheeled basins had been constructed, ten in number, also of bronze, into which the water intended for ceremonial purposes was poured. Each had four wheels, like a chariot; the wheels supported a square box, above which was placed the cylindrical basin, large enough to contain from 150 to 170 gallons. The walls of the receptacle and of the box which supported it were decorated with palms, colocynths, oxen and winged lions in relief. [Illustration: Fig. 182.--Movable basin. (Restoration.)] Such were the principal features of the temple furniture; smaller utensils, knives, pincers, tongs, dishes, are scarcely known to us. An exact idea of them can, however, be formed by an examination of the products of Egyptian and Assyrian industry, especially of the dishes, vases, and utensils found among the substructures of the Phœnician temples in the island of Cyprus. Various passages in the Bible enumerate the ornaments of the priests, such as the _ephod_, which, in certain cases, signifies the liturgical vestment; in others a sort of sacred casket, containing two talismanic cubes, called _urim_ and _thummim_. The priestly costume of Aaron is an embroidered garment in which gems are set, according to the Book of Exodus. As early as the period of Genesis, we see the children of Israel making use of seals of precious stone, precisely as their neighbours the Egyptians and Chaldæans did. A certain number of gems carved in intaglio have come down to us which bear names apparently Jewish: Shebaniah, Nathanyahu, Hananyahu, Obadyahu. These seals for the most part only bear the name of their possessor; they have neither ornament nor symbol. § III. CIVIL ARCHITECTURE.